NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
"I am feeling fantastic," said presidential nominee A P J Abdul Kalam as he visited the main polling booth in Parliament House on Monday and shook hands with ministers and Members of Parliament who had queued up to cast ballot in the presidential election.
"I am facing an election, so I am naturally looking for victory," Kalam, whose candidature is backed by the National Democratic Alliance and virtually all opposition, barring Left parties, told reporters as he was escorted to the booth by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan.
Wearing a blue shirt and a grey trouser, the eminent missile technologist posed for photographs and talked to reporters after spending over half-an-hour at the booth.
To repeated queries whether he was confident of winning the election against Lakshmi Sehgal, the 71-year-old Kalam in a lighter vein said, "You have to ask the members who have to vote."
To a question on his hairstyle, he said, "I do it every four months.... sometimes it goes up and sometimes it goes down."
During his stay at the booth, Kalam watched the polling process and was briefed by Rajya Sabha Secretary General R C Tripathi, who is also the Returning Officer.
The 11th President of India: Complete Coverage
The Presidency: A Special Series
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report